STATE COLLEGE, PA - NOVEMBER 10: A news van is flipped over as students and those in the community fill the streets and react after football head coach Joe Paterno was fired during the Penn State Board of Trustees Press Conference, in downtown Penn State, in the early morning hours of November 10, 2011 in State College, Pennsylvania. Paterno and Spanier have lost their positions amid allegations that former former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was involved with child sex abuse. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

With the idea of advancing the Penn State story, Al Dukes reached out to a gal named Karisa Maxwell, who is a journalism student at Penn State and called in on behalf of the schools radio station.

As the conversation went on, it became clear that although she wasn’t defending Paterno unconditionally, Karisa did insinuate that she felt he was being made a scapegoat.

That was all Craig had to hear and from there he delivered a verbal tongue lashing with the hopes of talking some sense into the young journalism student, during which Craig did some insinuating of his own when he said – after learning that Karisa’s parents agreed with her sympathy for Paterno’s plight – that she must have been raised by animals.

From there Craig suggested Karisa give some serious thought to changing her major and reevaluating her values. He also said that Penn State should be ashamed that they allow her to represent their University.

One Comment

wow from her twitter, it seems she’s still believing what she says. i’m tired of the penn state kid’s arguments “it was unfair that they fired him” and “the media tarnished Penn St and JoePa’s image”. Please, he admitted he knew that a child molester is roaming on his campus and admitted he didn’t do enough or ever follow-up on the victims. Even if this is “not fair”, this is not about that, it’s about accountability, and all those involved in the cover up must be held accountable. If Penn State, their students, and alums want their institution to rise back up, you must clean house from the top to the bottom, including their beloved JoePa. These dumb kids also need to stop talking about what JoePa did for the community, football, and charities; it doesn’t matter. If they protested against the decision of the board to fire JoePa, then they are indirectly supporting him, his actions and lackthereof, and in effect supporting the cover-up of the horrific actions. What idiots that can’t understand anything because they are blinded by the so-called legend of their school.

From her twitter (http://twitter.com/KarisaMaxwell), she continues to think she’s right: “this is true. But as I said before, let the facts come out before we bury a legacy into it’s grave.” There is already enough evidence that everyone including JoePa must be cleaned out for the whole organization and school will be able to regain their status of accountability again.

This “tongue lashing” was ABUSIVE and there are no two ways about it. This is exactly the sort of thing that perpetuates the cycle of hate and abuse that is far too prevalent in our society. And to think he spews this abuse from his moral high ground! This guy should be ashamed of himself. At the very least he should be reprimanded by the station and issue an apology, if not taken off the air altogether.

Carton, “Who raised you?” Everyone is entitled to there opinion, you were nothing but rude to that Penn State student who found time to talk with you…..It’s a shame she got up so early to talk to you. Your show should be cancelled…..do you have any morals…. If you can’t accept other viewers opinions, find a new job, maybe shoveling horse manure……

I heard Carton’s interview as well. I nearly drove my car off the side of the NJ Turnpike because I was so angry. How dare you treat someone so badly just because their opinion was different then yours? You bullied a young girl who is trying to make sense of this complex situation in a fair and logical manner. Shame on you. Your actions were disgraceful and the fact that Boomer sat by and let this happen makes him no better. I think you two should both be fired. This was not evocative radio…it was just plain stupid.

I too took offense at the interview. Craig had no right to behave like that. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and if it is different then shouting it down doesn’t change the opinion.
He was out of control and someone should have done some thing to stop it. I tried to call the show to express my extreme displeasure but of course no answer.
I am done with the show.

Yes Carton did ask Cowher today about it – and surprise surprise – when his answer was not much different than what that student said, tough guy Carton did not go off on him and call him stupid and demean him – as i stated i think paterno should not be coaching either, but Carton is a hypocrite and a wimp acting tough only with the people he knows he can bully.

Appalled that you actually posted a story about this on here. Carton is nothing but a bully. That poor girl had some valid OBJECTIVE points. Not at all saying that she didn’t seem a little misguided, but there was no reason to totally drown her out with insults like a child. You’re a bully Carton. And a Coward to boot.

Hi guys I want to commend Carton for actually standing up for what is right and for asking the coaches on the show (e.g. Billick and Cowher) pointedly why they, in light of the undeniable facts, have not come out and definitively condemned Paterno’s actions. I know they are tring to be tactful but I think it’s spineless and totally unfounded. The excuse that they need to wait for the facts to come out is pathetic

There are 2 simple FACTS that are already known.
Number 1: Paterno by is own admission and testimony knew that an old man Sandusky was naked with a young boy in the showers in the PSU facilities. He said under oath that McQueary saw “Sandusky fondling or doing something of a sexual nature with a young boy”. Whether McQueary told him the horrible specifics (which I 100% think he did) that is a CRIME!!!!!!
Number2: Paterno never went to the police and never followed up to see if his “superiors” went to the police.

WHAT MORE FACTS DO THESE COACHES NEED TO CONDEMN PATERNO????

Then there are other observations that are likely fact also that i didn’t even mention: Sandusky admitted to impropriety ADMITTING wrongdoing by showering with a boy detailed in a 30 page report. Does anyone think Paterno didnt know??? Then in 2000 there was sexual acts Sandusky performed on a young boy witnessed by janitors etc. So we are to believe that Paterno who runs Penn St didnt get wind of this either??? Furthermore after the 2002 incident, Sandusky’s only punishment was to not bring children onto campus (I.e. You can molest children elsewhere as long as it’s not on campus); then for the next 7 yrs despite the aforementioned ban Sandusky continued to hv free access on campus and at least on one occasion in 2007 was seen with a child on campus. So as a result of the inaction of Paterno and company Sandusky abused more children for SEVEN more yrs between 2002-2009. SEVEN YRS!!! Which would have been stopped if Paterno acted.

To me, I dont care how much good and how many positive things that man did, he is culpable, complicit and morally inadequate in my opinion. This lack of action and moral depravity to save the institution that condemned future childrens lives as a result of sexual abuse that could have been stopped squashes the good he did. Not once since 1998 did he do enough to stop this monster. At any point he could have done more ESP given who he is. In my mind Paterno’s moral inadequacy starts from at least 1998 which means a span of at least 13 yrs where he did not do the right thing so it’s time we stop looking at him as a saint and accept him for the selfish and morally subpar man he really is.

And tell those coaches to stop being spineless and to take a stand like decent, moral human beings and condemn this man for his actions

This is a response I found to the people who called for Joe’s head….I totally agree with what the writer is saying…

Andrew Rentschler-

In defense of Joe Paterno: I’m not going to defend him because of all the amazing things he’s done over the course of his career. that would be like giving him an excuse to do something bad now. He wouldn’t have it that way. The reality of the current situation is that Joe DID do the right thing in every ethical, moral, and legal sense. he took a second hand allegation that he got 12 hours after an alleged rape and moved quickly to follow State and University protocol by reporting that to his boss. Beyond that, he took the extra effort to make sure that Gary Schultz was alerted of the situation. Why is this so important? Because Schultz oversees campus police, a 250 officer operation with its own investigative and enforcement powers that are on the same level as the Pennsylvania State Police.

So for all you who keep hearing that Joe didn’t tell police… It’s a lie. Remember that. Repeat that everywhere. The media doesn’t want you to know that because it doesn’t fit their beautiful narrative of Penn State pride before the fall.

It was up to Schultz to investigate this crime. JoePa has no purview in this arena. Schultz has the powers of a medium sized city’s police commissioner. and he did nothing. He neglected to even question Sandusky. He neglected to attempt to locate the victim (who still has not been identified 9 years later). He even refused to restrict Sandusky’s access to campus buildings — the minimum that could have been achieved. None of these decisions were Joe Paterno’s decisions. They all rested in the office of the de facto commissioner of campus police.

Now you can ask all sorts of questions about why Schultz did this. Was he covering for a friend? Was he instructed to do so by someone else? I’m not sure why he did it, but he did it. and the fact of the matter is that if Joe wanted to execute a cover-up, he would have never gone to Curley and Schultz in the first place. It makes no sense otherwise. So this all rests on Schultz. furthermore, Schultz took the step to talk to president Spanier, who agreed that there was nothing worth investigating on a criminal level, so the book was closed.

At this point in the story, there’s only one good guy and a whole lot of bad guys. and that good guy is Joepa.

Some people are asking why Joe didn’t do more to follow up on this after the fact. the bottom line is that he had no idea if talking to Sandusky or confronting him would threaten an ongoing investigation. So he stayed quiet and moved on with life. When after several months nothing was found regarding Sandusky, what was Joe to do? Decide to be insubordinate and go above the president of the university’s head? Call the FBI? Put on a batman suit and seek vigilante justice in the dark of night? What if he went after Sandusky himself and it was found that there was no crime, there was no string of rapes? Do you think Joe would have done the right thing then? How would he have been able to see that?

People have decided to victimize Joepa in this case, and doing so is a moral crime much worse than anything Joe himself committed. after all, the media’s rush to blame Joe for this sets an awful moral hazard. What is the point of doing the right thing if you get punished for it anyway? Why should those like Spanier, who sits by silently, let Joe — the football coach — take the heat for a massive institutional failure? It’s cowardly to blame joe for this, yet that’s all we are seeing in the media and in water cooler talk across the country.

The other thing to keep in mind is that of all the people who had information that could have led to Sandusky’s exposure in the last 15 years, Joe Paterno is the ONLY one who did the right thing with it. McQuery cowered. Schultz ducked. Curley played the stooge. Spanier gave all the milquetoast solutions the rubber stamp. second mile continued to enable Sandusky. Ray Gricar, the DA for centre county, refused to call a grand jury based on allegations in 1998. Campus police refused to arrest Sandusky after the 1998 incident too. A janitor who supposedly saw something happen in 2000 didn’t announce it until the grand jury trial, 10 years later. even some of the mothers sat on information for the better part of a decade! only Joe took information that could have incriminated Sandusky and handed it over the authorities. Only Joe. Don’t forget that.

Just please remember: Do not defend Joe with an asterisk. Do not defend him half-heartedly. Do not give in to the mob. Joe did the right thing in all of this, both legally and morally. Defend him in full voice, and defend him forever.

please repost this across to your friend lists if you agree. if you got this far, thanks for reading.

What is wrong with you people? There is nothing wrong with what Craig did, I would have done the same. How would one of you feel if it was your kid or you that this happened to and the God at Penn State did nothing about it? Are you all idiots?

craig is annoying sometimes. but he is right in this case. there is only one side to this story and that is everyone on that penn state staff that know about this should be fired. how do these people let this go on and do nothing about it, thats sick. im sorry but whoever is supporting joe p is stupid just like this girl. it doesn’t matter if joe p is a legend, what he did was wrong.

Its about time people stopped speaking about Joe Paterno’s legacy and started speaking about standing up for that boy in 2002 and any other ones that Paterno saw Sandusky to bring to practice. Im sick of people talking about Paterno’s legacy. The fact is for at least 10 years of the 46 he was a coach, “winning with honor” was a sham. Your tongue lashing of that girl was well deserved. Her parents don’t get it. She needed some tough love. Happy Valley is a moral vacuum right now. People are so much in awe of Paterno that they are not able to think clearly there.

I highly doubt that this comment will stay for very long due to the fact that I am a Penn State student and a State College Resident since the age of four. However I believe that it is necessary for another insiders opinion to be heard and I want to address this horrific interview and the rumors that were discussed.
We, here at Penn State, DO NOT condone child rape even though some of us may support Joe Paterno. Although he admits that he may have made some poor judgements at the time he did not deserve to be fired in the way that he was. After sixty years of coaching for this school he deserved a lot more then a phone call and that is why a majority of the students were so extremely upset.

However, I did not comment on this post because I wanted to clear JoePas name. I am commenting because Karisa did not deserve to be talked to in that way. She is a college student and should not be talked down to like a child. We may not be wise in our years but we do realize the severity of this situation and we are extremely frustrated by the way that some people are treating the matter. Sandusky is the bad guy in this scandal, not Joe Paterno and it is not right that he is parading around without anyone really saying anything about it.
I just ask that everyone that is reading about this issue retains all the facts before they judge Penn State or anything affiliated with this scandal.

ok your right he shoudln’t have been fired that way, but some of the students should not be rioting in the the streets, destroying property and threat the public because he got fired the wrong way. thats crazy, all those kids who riot in the streets are stupid.

You need to read the Grand Jury testimony KL (it’s evident that you haven’t). This isn’t a rumor, or media fabrication (as you and Karisa seem to indicate), it’s a Grand Jury testimony of no less than 15 people given under oath, including Paterno.

Joe Paterno, in his own words, “wish[ed] he had done more” on hindsight. He admitted under oath that McQueary said he saw Sandusky “fondling” or “horsing around”, “something of a sexual nature” with a 10-year old boy in the showers on your campus. This was in 2002. It’s 2011, and Sandusky was on your campus as recently as last week. He was offically last seen with a Second Mile youth on the campus in 2007. Joe Paterno (who IS Penn State) did absolutely nothing to stop a known (or even a then-suspected serial child rapist) from continuing his “professor emeritus” status on YOUR campus.

Joe Paterno had the clout to stop this and you, and every other misguided PSU student/faculty member/alumnus/booster knows it.

By the way, if you think that Paterno wasn’t aware of the 1998 allegations you’re even more delusional than you let on.

and also these stupid students at penn state should be worrying more about the victims in this case rather than how joe p got fired. how stupid are these students that there going to support a guy who let little kids get raped. i don’t care if he’s a legend too

I’m disappointed in Craig’s handling of the “conversation” — he sounded like an undergraduate and nothing like a professional… and Boomer seemed to just idly sit by as Craig turned an interview into a shout-down. As much as Craig’s anger towards Penn State is legitimate, it’s not legitimate to conduct a condescendingly sexist (“Hi Doll” — Really? It’s 2011.) interview that turned into a rant. Granted, he’s not hired to be a teacher, but let the student have her say and then work on persuasion and not suppression. Even if her emotion and allegiances are clouding her objectivity, she didn’t deserve to get insulted. Very disappointing conduct that will have me listening elsewhere in the morning.

Let me say this,Craig Carton is a total Jerk. How the hell does he think he is for lashing out at a young girl for her opinion. Craig should be taken off the radio & the FCC should step in and take action against him. He has left a mark on this young girl that will forever stay with her.The last i knew in this counrty,a person was presumed innocent until proven GUILTY. Joe Paterno is so many words is PENN STATE. When you mention PENN STATE the next words that follow are JOE PATERNO,Not the Board members. No one even knows who the hell they are until now.Craig Carton,im calling you out,lets see if your man enough to face me and talk the trash that you spoke to that young girl that just so happens to be very close to my heart. Let me challenge you to call her or her parents stupid when in my presence. Your a very brave punk behind the Mic & have no respect for others. Dont give me that crap about freedom of speach or all that other BS. I really hope that the parents of this child SUES you & your radio station for the remarks you made about her. You could have very well destroyed this girls future in Broadcasting. Who the hell do you think you are,i hope you dont have any kids that came from your loins. The Challenge is on the Table,Lets see if you got the balls to man up & face this writer…

LOL. Bob, Karisa Maxwell clearly does not have a future in broadcasting. She literally killed her own career on the airwaves yesterday….Craig Carton didn’t kill it, she did. And uh…by the way, what could Ms. Maxwell possibly sue Carton or WFAN for…..his calling her “stupid”? Do yourself a favor and research something.

A journalism degree from Syracuse must not be worth very much these days, based on Carton ‘s sexist, rude, obnoxious, demeaning and appalling “interview”. He is a pig and so full of himself and has no right to call the PSU student stupid, her parents animals because someone doesnt agree with his side of an issue. He owes her and her parents an apology we will never hear and I think I am more surprised at Boomer for not reeling him in. I will be happy to move up the dial and not subject myself to his arrogance.

The events coming to light out of Penn State are certainly horrific, but verbally abusing a college Junior, and insulting her parents, does nothing to promote any thoughtful discussion. Craig opened his interview with “Hello Doll…..”” certainly a bit sexist and condescending, and then went downhill from there. I’m disappointed Boomer didn’t pull the plug on the call when it became obvious his
partner was out of control. The only lesson Ms. Maxwell may have learned was that once you get the mircophone, just shout louder than the other guy, riducule them as an individual, and maybe you too can be a radio personality.
While she may be naive, Craig’s foaming at the mouth ranting was no way to enlighten her.

Carton is real tough with a female college student – i didn’t hear him rant about all the people happy to see michael jackson’s doctor get convicted – all those people who were carrying on for Michael Jackson – why – because that would not be the politically correct thing to do (yes i heard his brief reference to jackson during this call but not the same thing) . By the way i think Paterno got what he deserved but Carton is a complete phony and hypocrite.

Craig Carton and Al Dukes are more legitimate than Ms. Maxwell. Clearly PSU’s communications department is lacking as well…as Ms. Maxwell’s emotions have clouded her objectivity and journalistic integrity. She came off sounding like a spoiled, uninformed, enabling buffoon, especially making the comment that “anybody outside of the Penn State community just does not understand”. Check out her twitter page, a veritable shrine to Joe Paterno. She should not speak, or write, publicly on the matter if she wishes to continue to refer to herself as a “journalist”.

Completely agree. It was quite a brutal interview, but it was deservedly brutal. AAnyone who disagrees with the interviewer’s points here, is, in fact, an idiot. The girl’s opinion on the issue is stupid; when you’re dealing with a situation as messed up and serious as this you have to be expected to be mature and use logic. Which she obviously did not do when forming her opinion.

@ Bob

you can’t possibly be defending the girl here can you. Because her argument, her viewpoint, is poisonous and stupid. If you disagree with me you should sit down and really think about what’s happening here.

Apparently real journalism doesn’t exist anymore, as evidenced by the writing of this article. Why should she bother to change her major, and why would she deserve to be attacked by a “journalist”? Shouldn’t you be keeping you personal opinion out of this? Shouldn’t Al Dukes be doing the same? Oh but then… that would imply that you’re both legitimate journalists, which you are not.